Episode 1218 - 5 Chefs Compete
The eighteenth episode of Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 10, 2014. On that episode, the final five worked with leftovers, fingertips were lost, a comic book legend dined at dinner service, and the most shocking exit of that season's consistent chef took place. Intro While going back to the dorms, Scott was stunned that he survived another elimination, knew he had a one in five chance of winning, and looked to be the winner at the end. Meanwhile, Joy and Melanie realized that there was not a lot of people left as they were the final five out of the twenty that began. Then, Joy said she would be close to a moment of success, only to lose it at the last second, while Melanie knew what was at stake, and that she could not fuck up for Ramsay. Individual challenge The next day, the final five came downstairs to see metal scraps in the dining room, with Rochelle asking about that. Ramsay answered that by explaining to the chefs how some people looked at throwable items in a different light, as Street Drum Corp used the metal scraps as musical instruments, which Melanie called awesome, but Jason wanted to see them break something. After the performance, Ramsay used Street Drum Corp as an example of how some people used undesirable objects into something amazing, which led to him announcing the Leftovers Challenge. Rochelle said she could work with that as she did so the past. The chefs had 30 minutes to make an entrée dish using any leftover items that were found in the refrigerators. Melanie knew the hard part was to use random ingredients and the scraps of others, before grabbing the filet. However, Melanie noticed that Jason grabbed a large amount of ingredients for his dish, and he set his pan on fire by adding too much oil. While most have begun cooking, Rochelle struggled to pick her ingredients due to the large amount of options, but decided to use the duck breast with no other ideas. Scott knew they had to move with a purpose, and did a duck breast and pork tenderloin dish, dismaying Rochelle as he already had an idea. 10 minutes left, Joy sliced her chicken in half, but while it came out raw, she refused to let the nerves get to her because if she defeated herself, she would lose. After Rochelle rushed her dish, everybody had their dishes cooked and plated on time. Better Homes and Garden’s food editor Laurie Buckle came in as a guest judge, and Ramsay announced that the winner would have their dish featured in the magazine, making Melanie hope she would be featured. Scott was up first and presented his pork tenderloin and pan roasted duck breast dish with lentils, mushrooms and pancetta. Buckle found the presentation to be lovely, she and Ramsay found the dish to be seasoned beautifully, and found a cohesiveness to it. Scott was proud that they loved his dish, and took the compliment in despite knowing it was a small one. After, Joy went up, and said she read the magazine, but awkwardly mentioned that it was her favorite bathroom literature, which Jason could not believe she said that. Joy’s coriander crusted chicken was criticized for not being crispy, and having a lackluster salad, disappointing her as she knew she could do better. Jason’s seafood lovers delight, featuring steamed clams and mussels, seared scallops and shrimp, was deemed swimming around in looks, and Ramsay reminded him that it was a single page spread, not a double page. As for the taste, it had an odd texture and that it tasted like leftovers, but Jason refused to believe that. Then, Rochelle’s pan seared duck breast with date sauce looked like a teepee to Melanie, and Buckle said it did not look elegant. Then, Ramsay said there was a lot going on in the taste, and after Rochelle’s review, Melanie was the final person to have her dish judged, but Scott was confident he would win. Melanie presented her macadamia and hazelnut crusted filet with Israeli couscous, which was deemed pretty, and having the wow factor to the taste, making her confident that she was going to win. As Scott and Melanie had the two best dishes, Ramsay asked the former to walk his dish back to the front for another look. In the end, Scott was named the winner, and he called it fantastic as he earned his black jacket for a reason. Reward In addition to the photo shoot and having his dish featured in Better Homes and Garden, Scott was rewarded with a fighter jet experience, with the chance to bring somebody with him. Although Melanie felt she should be picked based on being the runner up of the challenge, Scott picked Jason, with the latter thanking him for a chance of a lifetime. During the reward, Scott could not believe he was going to be seen by 4 million readers as he did the photo shoot, and called it one heck of a day. At Air Combat USA, Jason asked for a barf bag and a diaper before he flew, and Scott felt like a little boy just by flying the plane. As for Jason, he screamed during his experience and felt lightheaded, but said there was no other better day. When they landed, Scott called it a great one in a lifetime opportunity as he and Jason talked about their experience. Punishment The remaining chefs were punished by prepping pumpkin and acorn squash for that night’s service. After hearing that, Melanie wanted to die, and complained about not being chosen for Scott’s reward. Joy was not feeling it as she felt beaten down, and Melanie hoped there was not a lot of pumpkin and squashes to prep. During the punishment, Melanie called the pumpkins a nightmare to carry, and said she hated them now, while Joy said she never carved a pumpkin before now. Then, Rochelle accidentally sliced her thumb and put it under water, while Joy called the medics over and squealed over the chunk on the counter with Melanie. As Rochelle went to see the medic, she feared that Ramsay would look at her differently for cutting herself when cutting a pumpkin, while Joy and Melanie tried to cover the chunk without looking at it. Rochelle was taken to urgent care, and Joy hoped the former would make it back in time for service as they could lose their space if they did not shine. Before service Later that day, Scott and Jason came back from their reward with full knowledge of Rochelle’s accident, but Melanie and Joy were still shaken over the incident. Jason asked if Rochelle was gone for good, but Melanie had no idea. Later that night, Ramsay had everybody lined up, but when he noticed Rochelle was missing, Joy and Melanie told him everything. While stunned by the news, Ramsay told the four remaining chefs that they had to get out the gates early as comic book legend Stan Lee was dinning in the chef’s table that night. Jason instantly knew the name the moment Ramsay listed off the superhero’s Lee created, and called it every kid's dream. After the debriefing, the chefs were finishing up their prep work, but Melanie and Scott noticed that Rochelle was still not around, and the former hoped she would come back in time before they began. Fortunately, Rochelle arrived back and showed Ramsay her injured thumb, but reassured him that she can perform that night. After, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen. Dinner service In addition to Stan Lee, the Red Hat Society, Bree Williamson, and Kearran Giovanni were seen in the dining room that night. When the first order arrived, Scott tried to fire two tickets at the same time, but Ramsay told him that it was not fast food to go, and Melanie told him to slow down as he was not in a fighter jet anymore. Moments later, Lee arrived at Hell’s Kitchen, and while Jason was in awe at his presence, Melanie called it an honor to cook for him. On the next order, Scott called himself Captain App as he can make happy food, but his aggressive sliding of the pan led to some of the risotto to fall onto the hot plate, and Ramsay warned him that it was stinking up the restaurant. While Rochelle feared they were going to sink on appetizers, Scott got his risottos accepted. After, Melanie called herself a part of the Fantastic Five, only to serve a capellini with little amount of crab in it. Ramsay asked for some crab as he expected Melanie to be perfect by now, while Scott felt he should not have taken over the capellini as he cooked the crab. Fortunately, Scott’s attempt was accepted. 45 minutes into dinner service, the final five’s next order was for Lee. While Melanie had no excuses, and knew she had to bounce back, she set her pan on fire by adding too much oil as Lee took notice to his amusement. Jason felt that Melanie was losing her mind and had a screw loose, while Scott saw that the capellini was now burnt. Then, Melanie walked up an unseasoned capellini, and Ramsay said he could not be anymore patient with her mistakes as he had everybody taste it. Joy said it tasted like shit due to missing the seasoning, and while Melanie admitted that she forgot the cilantro, she claimed that she added the lime in earlier despite Ramsay saying otherwise. As Melanie felt her mind was going quiet on her, she was able to get her refire accepted, and to Lee’s table. Now moving onto entrées, Rochelle communicated with Joy as they had to work as a team, and with Jason helping the latter on the sauce, Rochelle was certain they could pull it off. However, Joy walked up the halibut despite Rochelle needing a minute more on her Wellingtons, and Ramsay reminded her that she needed the sauce first as he refused to stop and start. Jason had no idea what happened as Joy messed up quickly, and the latter walked up her sauce which had no mussels in them. Joy got frustrated as she had a lot going on with fish, but managed to get her second attempt accepted, allowing it to be sent out to the dining room. Two hours into dinner service, Rochelle knew they had to bounce back from the previous communication breakdown from the previous ticket, only for Joy not to give her a proper time, to Ramsay’s annoyance. Then, Joy to rudely tell Ramsay to have somebody else pick up her pace if he felt she was slowing things down, while Ramsay accused her of giving him attitude. When Ramsay asked for a time on the garnishes, Jason said he needed 90 seconds, but Joy ended up walking the halibut up despite the announcement. Ramsay was frustrated as he wanted the garnish first before the halibut, but while Jason understood that, Joy was confused, leading Ramsay to pull her aside to explain it to her. However, Joy showed more attitude to Ramsay, walked away from him, and he told her not to take her bad mood out on his food. That caused Joy to snap and declare she was done with the competition. Despite Rochelle and Melanie begging her not to quit, Joy took her jacket off and walked back to the dorms to pack, only for Ramsay to follow her and call out her selfish attitude by giving up over one mistake. That led to an argument between them as they accused the other of not listening to the other, ending with Joy declaring that she was done and walking upstairs, and Ramsay retorting that it showed in her cooking. Meanwhile, the four remaining chefs were in shock over what they witnessed as Jason could not believe Joy lost it over a single fish. While Rochelle and Melanie hoped that Joy would come back with Ramsay, they were disappointed when only he came back. Ramsay reassigned Melanie to fish, but before moving on, he told the four that Joy’s attitude was not what he expected at that stage of the competition, and urged them to get stronger and have a great service despite being a person down. Jason was ready for the crunch time as four people in the kitchen were better, but secretly hoped for three instead. Back at the dorms, Joy was packing up her clothes when Sous Chef Andi came and asked what happened. Joy felt that Ramsay went off the handle and she was trying to explain herself, but Sous Chef Andi reminded her that it was who Ramsay was, and that she was giving attitude. Joy knew that the competition was bringing out the ugly side of her, but while Sous Chef Andi said she had to take the stress, she felt like she was beaten down and could not take it anymore as it was never enough for Ramsay. However, Sous Chef Andi told Joy that Ramsay was her biggest supporter, reminding her of what he told her during the evaluations, and that the hardest people in their lives were the ones that wanted the best out of them. Coming to her senses, Joy realized she had a chance to win, but threw it all away, and had no idea what to do now. Back in the kitchen, the four chefs were pushing entrées out to Ramsay’s standards, and Melanie called it the biggest bounce back night for them as she and Rochelle served Lee’s table. Joy's exit Back in the dorms, Joy debated her next move, and realized that she needed to apologize to Ramsay and ask for another chance, but did not know if she had the confidence to do so. Ultimately, Joy decided not to take the chance, believing it was too late for her to apologize to Ramsay, and knew she had to live with the fact she threw away a chance of a lifetime. During her exit interview, Joy received a retrospective montage of her time on the show. Post-mortem Back in the dining room, the four chefs were lined up as Ramsay commented what a night that was. Then, Ramsay said that being a great head chef meant having composure, discipline, and maturity, before commenting that Joy’s exit proved to him she lacked all those qualities. Jason was still shocked over Joy’s decision to quit as he thought it would be him and her in the finale, and it blew his mind for her to flush that chance away. After, Ramsay said that despite the ups and downs that night, the four chefs were able to fight back, and decided that nobody else would be going home. However, Ramsay warned them that at the end of the following service, he was cutting the field in half, urged them to give it their all as the competition was dead even, and that he could see any one of them in the finale. While being dismissed, Rochelle said the pressure was on and that she needed to prove to Ramsay she could do it, and Melanie deemed it the battle of the sexes, hoping that it would be her and Rochelle left. Then, Scott knew what he was capable of and had to put his head down as the competition was not getting easier. At the end of the episode, Joy received the portrait burning sequence. Ramsay's comment: "Joy's quitting was one of the most shocking things I've ever experienced in Hell's Kitchen. But her lack of maturity tonight proved that she is not ready to be a head chef because leaders never quit." Category:Episodes Category:Season 12